Happy Anniversary!!

Well, today officially marks that Rob and I have been married for 8 wonderful years. I still stand in awe of my husband and I count my blessings every day to the very simple and normal life we live.....here are some of our adventures we have experienced together these past 8 years.

We met in 1999 and he proposed to be 5 months later....and we both knew this was the person we wanted to grow old with. I was able to take 21 hours my last semester at KU so that I could start planning our wedding.
2000 we spent getting to know each other more, and enjoying every minute we had together. This is also when I started my personal relationship with the Lord and when Rob and I decided that Christ would be the center of our household, no matter what we faced.

We were married in 2001 and our first big challenge was to remodel the "school house" we were currently living, we also started North Star Builders. Once the "school house" was complete, we looked forward to doing more projects together.

In 2002, within a few months of getting settled back into the newly remodeled "school house", I found out we were expecting our first child.

Tate was born in March of 2003 and although labor and delivery was not what I was expecting..we were so excited to have a very healthy BIG boy!!

During 2003 we also found the "lake house" for Rob's parents and started remodeling it so that the Kochan's and the Sulwer's had a place to stay when they came to Iowa for weekend visits.

6 months after Tate was born I found out I was pregnant again (SURPRISE!!) and 14 months after Tate was born I gave birth to Austin in May of 2004.

The summer/fall of 2004 Kevin and Cindy moved to North Liberty and Rob was able to build their house for them. It was so nice to have Tate and Austin's cousins so close...

Not long after we were getting used to having 2 boys around the house Rob came across 20 acres in Swisher, and in 2005 we purchased our next property.

While we were living in the "lake house" and working on our newest property, I found out I was pregnant again. So, we moved into our new house in Swisher, June 2006 and I gave birth to Avery in August of 2006.

In 2007 the "lake house" sold and Rob started building Aunt Chrissy's house in North Liberty. Rob also came across 118 acres up the road from our current house and within a few days, our offer was accepted, and we were proud owners of our "newest" location.

There was an old, old abandoned farm house on the property and in 2008 we moved it across the road, completely remodeled it and then sold it to some good friends of ours.

Also in 2008 we were hit with one of the hardest things for our family to ever endure. Our daughter Avery, who was only 21 months old, was taken to be with our heavenly Father in a very unexpected accident in our driveway. After this took place we decided to leave our current house behind and build again on our new land.

As most of you know, Rob and I also decided we wanted to add to our family. So in July we found out we were pregnant again and now happily awaiting baby #4.

All in all, or lives have been filled with many adventures....lots of great ones and some that have left holes in our hearts that will never be filled again. Through all of these times, our foundation hasn't been shaken and we still stand firm in our faith. We know we can do EVERYTHING through Christ who gives us strength....Philippians 4:13

I love you Rob!!